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Integrated Research Application System (IRAS)

All projects need to be entered into The Integrated Research Application System (IRAS) in order to apply for national and local permissions. The system:

  • is a single system for applying for the permissions and approvals for health and social care and community care research in the UK
  • enables you to enter the information about your project once instead of duplicating information in separate application forms
  • uses filters to ensure that the data collected and collated is appropriate to the type of study, and consequently the permissions and approvals required
  • helps you to meet regulatory and governance requirements
  • retains familiar aspects of the NRES form system.

 

Starting your application

After you login to IRAS and create a new project, the first thing you are required to do is complete the project filter questions.

It is very important that this is done correctly as it determines the core data required for your submission. Getting it wrong may mean that you answer a lot of irrelevant questions and your application may be invalid.

Our IRAS guidance leaflet gives you more detailed information.

Applying to the UKCRN Portfolio

Studies that have been funded and peer reviewed as part of an open national grant call may be eligible for NIHR UKCRN portfolio adoption.

To check if your project is eligible, you will need to answer ‘yes’ to 5b on the IRAS filter. Selecting this generates a Portfolio Adoption Form which will need completing and submitting, following the instructions in IRAS. The Portfolio Adoption Form can be submitted at the same time as applying to REC and the HRA through IRAS.

Once you have completed your Portfolio Adoption Form and have uploaded all of your supporting documentation you can proceed to the ‘E-Submission’ tab. You will need to pick the correct CLRN from the dropdown menu. For all sites of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust please select ‘London South’.

Documentation for national approvals

REC and HRA

Your application to REC and the HRA will need to be prepared and submitted using IRAS. The application will be submitted to both the REC and the HRA in parallel. A favourable opinion from REC and a HRA approval letter will need to be obtained from both regulatory bodies.

For KCH or KCL-sponsored studies

Email your draft IRAS application form along with all supporting documents to [email protected].

Your study will be allocated to a Research Facilitator who will conduct a sponsorship review and support the CI and study team to prepare the documentation for REC/HRA submission.

Where King’s College Hospital is also a research site, the Research Facilitator will incorporate assessing, arranging and confirming the capacity and capability to deliver the study as part of this process.

Once your application has been prepared, reviewed and approved by the Research and Innovations Office it will need to be electronically authorised by the Sponsor Representative for either KCH or KCL. A REC meeting can then be booked via the Online Booking Service and the application submitted via the IRAS system along with all supporting documentation. Your application will be sent to both REC and the HRA for review.

Submitting to MHRA

For application to the MHRA for King’s College Hospital and King’s College London CTIMPS, please contact the King’s Health Partners Clinical Trials Office (KHPCTO). For device studies requiring MHRA approval, please speak with the Research Office who can advise you further.